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Boy Scouts considering retreat from no-gays policy

The Boy Scouts of America may soon give sponsors of troops the authority to decide whether to accept gays as scouts and leaders.

Boy Scouts considering retreat from no-gays policy

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Updated: 7:18 AM CST Jan 29, 2013

DES MOINES, Iowa —

The Boy Scouts of America may soon give sponsors of troops the authority to decide whether to accept gays as scouts and leaders.

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"This discussion of this very, very tender topic has been going on for years and years," Mid-Iowa Council CEO Bob Hopper said.

Under the change being discussed, the different religious and civic groups that sponsor Scout units would be able to decide for themselves how to address the issue.

"We're going to say, 'You select leaders that are in concert with your mission. This is your program for your kids -- the kids in your community and in your neighborhoods. You select those leaders,'" Hopper said.

Southern Baptist leaders said their churches might support other boys' organizations instead of the BSA in response to the decision.

"People have to understand about our organization; those units don't belong to the boy scouts, they belong to the PTA, to the Methodist Church, to the Rotary Club," Hopper said. "So with the lifting of this particular restriction nationwide, we're going to leave it up to those churches, those PTA officers, to say, 'These are the people that we want to serve.'"

"If your church, say as an example, says, 'We're not comfortable with having a homosexual in that line,' we are saying you don't have to," Hopper said. "We're not directing any organization to say, 'you have to,' or, 'you can't,' and I think that's a really important distinction to make."

The final decision on the matter will have to be made at a Boy Scouts of America National Board meeting next week.

Several Iowa scout leaders said, if approved, the proposal would likely take several months to go into effect as the organization informs scout masters, scouts and parents.